Odisha government ropes in artists to create awareness on rainwater harvesting

BERHAMPUR: The state government has engaged artists to create awareness on rainwater harvesting through street plays in a unique bid to popularize it among the people here to deal with the paucity of water.
A seven-member troupe of a Bhubaneswar-based organisation staged plays in different parts of Berhampur on Wednesday. They will travel to 80 more places in the town with the play over the next seven days.
“The groundwater is depleting alarmingly in the Silk City.The situation turns worse for residents in summer as the town has been reeling from acute water scarcity. Keeping this in mind, the government had decided to implement the scheme on rainwater harvesting and recharge of groundwater in Berhampur along with four other towns in the state two years ago,” Yasawanta Satapathy, executive engineer, groundwater development division.
Sources said the other four towns selected for the implementation of the scheme on a pilot basis for five years are Bhubaneswar, Balangir, Titilagarh and Jharsuguda.
“During the 30-minute play, we try to educate people on the importance of conserving rainwater, recharging groundwater and make them aware of the new welfare schemes of the government,” Ranjan Nayak, director of Sanjog Natya Sanstha, Bhubaneswar, said. He added that he was overwhelmed by the response of the people here.
“Rainwater harvesting involves collection, filtering and use of rainwater, which falls on the rooftop (terrace or tiled roof) and in the portico of the house. It can be adopted through recharging of borewells near the house. Recharging of borewells should be done to prevent them from drying up and to improve the level of the water table,” PK Sahu, assistant engineer of the division, explained. The government will provide a subsidy of up to Rs 45, 000 to owners of private buildings under the scheme.
Sahu added, “Altogether 1590 projects, which includes 70 government buildings, have been completed in Berhampur since the implementation of the scheme on a pilot basis in the last four years. This year so far, around 599 projects of private buildings have been completed.” Around 750 applications are also pending for execution. In 2017-18, 476 projects, including 13 of government buildings, have been completed.